Brian Kelly on Will Fuller's decision to stay at Notre Dame: 'I'd love to see him come back'

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly says he hasn't yet spoken to wide receiver Will Fuller about his plans to skip the NFL draft and return to the Irish next season. (Mel Evans / AP)

What Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly didn't know won't hurt him.

What he no doubt found out Wednesday night, that junior receiver Will Fuller said he plans to return next season, can only help him and the Irish, assuming Fuller doesn't change his mind and enter the NFL draft after this year.

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Kelly said Thursday he hadn't yet talked to Fuller about the low-key announcement the junior from Philadelphia made Wednesday that took many by surprise.

He doesn't plan to anytime soon, either. Kelly said that conversation is best left for after the Irish's last game, when there's more time to properly assess Fuller's options.

"I'd love to see him come back," Kelly said. "But we've gotta see where it all shakes out at the end of the year."

He could do that, of course, and still enter next year's draft. But when he was pressed, he said he would suit up for the Irish again next year.

Fuller's teammates, defensive lineman Sheldon Day and left tackle Ronnie Stanley, both projected to be high first-round picks in next year's draft, decided to take the route Fuller said he plans to take.

Both said they are glad they returned.

Day said Stanley texted him during the offseason to talk it over after Kelly and his staff visited both players' hometowns to try talk about the benefits of staying and going.

"He told me his decision rode on my decision," Day said of Stanley. "I said, 'That's too much pressure for me. Don't do that to me."